Apparatus for cleaning dentures and other articles



y 12, 1964 A. P. CICCONE 3,132,657

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING DENTURES AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Nov. 15, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Ticla INVENTOR ANTHONY P- CICCONE May 12, 1964 A. P.ClCCONE 3,132,657

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING DENTURES AND OTHER ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Nov. 15, 1962 INVENTOR AT RNEY United States Patent The presentinvention relates to a cleaning apparatus,

and, more particularly, to improved apparatus for cleaning dentures andother articles.

Heretofore, dentures were cleaned at home by soaking the same in acleaning solution or by brushing the dentures with a cleansing paste orsolution. These methods are inadequate to effectively clean denturesbecause dentures have many minute openings which are difiicult topenetrate with a solution or paste or properly clean the same. Also, theplastic resins used for dentures have some surface porosity which isreadily seen under magnification and the cleaning medium must likewisepenetrate those pores to remove odors therefrom.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a denturecleaner wherein agitation of a cleaning solution is eifected in animproved manner to properly clean dentures.

Another object is to provide a denture cleaner having improved means foreffecting such agitation of the cleaning solution.

Another object is to provide such a denture cleaner which is safe andwill not damage the dentures or inflict injury to the user of thecleaner.

Another object is to provide such a denture cleaner wherein the denturesare cleaned in a container removably mounted on a stand to facilitatecleaning of the container.

A further object is to accomplish the foregoing in a simple, practicaland economical manner.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a denture cleaner in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 on FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, cleaning apparatus is shown whichgenerally comprises a cup-shaped container 10 for cleaning solution, asupport such as a stand 11 for the container, and a source of power suchas a motor 12 in the stand for driving a propeller 14 in the container.

The container has a bottom 15 formed with a circular well 16 for closelyconfining the propeller 14, and a side wall 17 extending upwardly fromthe bottom flared at a small angle, for example, five degrees. The sidewall is formed with a series of alternate circumferentially arranged arcand chord portions 18 and 19 of the same circle which are effective toproduce a desired action in the cleaning solution when agitated by thepropeller. The are and chord portions are of substantially equalcircumferential extent, and each portion extends upwardly from thebottom between a pair of vertical planes intersecting each other and thecentral vertical axis of the side wall. As the propeller swirls thesolution to produce a "ice central vortex, the solution rises when itcontacts the arc portions 18 and descends when it contacts the chordportions 19 to produce a Wavy flow at the surface of the solution whichentrains air and carries it into contact with the dentures. In practice,it has been found that three are and chord portions produce this desiredaction.

It has been found that both large and small dentures can be cleaned byproviding an arrangement whereby the well 16 can have a large or a smalldiameter, respectively. Generally, such an arrangement comprises anannular recess in the bottom 17 which surrounds the well to provide thelarge diameter and a removable collar adapted to be placed in and fillthe recess to provide the small diameter. Preferably, this isaccomplished by providing the bottom 17 with an annular-zone 20,inclined towards the well 16 and within a flat annular zone 21surrounding the zone 20, to spread the swirling solution outwardly whenlarge dentures are being cleaned, and by providing a collar or ring 22having an annular inclined zone 23 seated on the zone 20 and having aninner upright annular wall 24 which extends the well 16 upwardly tothereby confine the swirling of the solution when small dentures arebeing cleaned. The collar 22 is removably secured to the bottom 17 bycooperating pins 25 and recesses 26 on the zones 20 and 23 so that it isheld in place when small dentures are being cleaned and can be readilyremoved when large dentures are being cleaned;

The container is provided with one or more screens for supporting thedentures and/or preventing the propeller from damaging the dentures orinflicting injury to the user of the apparatus. Such an arrangement mayinclude a screen 27 extending across the well 16 having a dependingportion 28 at its periphery seated on the zone 21, for spacing ittherefrom. The screen 27 serves to support the dentures and may have aside wall so that this screen is in the shape of a basket.

If desired, the container may be provided with a cover 29.

The container 10 and stand 11 may be integrally formed or secured, butpreferably they are removably coupled to facilitate thorough cleaning ofthe container without wetting the motor 12 in the stand. This isaccomplished by providing circumferentially spaced upwardly extendingtabs or projections 30 on the top of the stand and providing a collar 31on the bottom of the container adapted to be gripped by the projections30. The collar 31 has fiat outer surfaces thereon and the tabs 30 havefiat inner surfaces for engaging the flat surfaces of the collar toprevent relative rotation between the stand 11 and'the container 10 whenthe power source 12 is effective to drive the propeller 14. Also,provision is made for coupling and uncoupling the propeller 14 and themotor 12. This is accomplished by mounting the propeller on a shaft 32which is rotatably mounted in a bearing 34 in the bottom of the well andextends downwardly, securing a cup 35 to the lower end of the shaft 32,and providing the motor with a drive shaft 36 extending upwardly fromthe stand having a plug 37 secured at its upper end adapted to beinserted into the cup 35 and gripped thereby.

In order to facilitate alignment with and insertion of the plug 37 intothe cup 35, the projections 30 extend above the plug and the collar 31extends below the cup, whereby the collar is first gripped by the tabsto align the container and stand so that the plug thereafter enters thecup without difliculty.

It has been found that a vortex can be established in a container havinga diameter of about four inches filled with cleaning solution at a levelof one inch, and a three blade propeller having a three quarter inchradius, the blades having a width of about three eighths of an inch, androtated at a speed of about 2000 r.p.m.

This vortex action entrains air to aerate the cleaning From theforegoing description, it will be seen that the present inventionprovides improved cleaning apparatus which is simple, practical andeconomical in construction, and is effective and reliable inoperation.The apparatus is compact and light in weight but yet is sufiicientlyrugged to withstand such rough usage to which it may normally besubjected.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in any limiting sense.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of co-pendingapplication Serial No. 94,597, filed March 9, 1961, now abandoned.

I claim:

1. Apparatus comprising a cup-shaped container for cleaning solutionhaving a side wall and having a bottom formed with a well, an annularzone inclined towards said well and in communication therewith, and aflat annular zone surrounding said inclined zone; a removable collarhaving an annular inclined zone seated on said first mentioned inclinedzone, a flat annular zone for extending said first mentioned flat zoneinwardly, and an upright annular inner zone for extending said wallupwardly; a propeller in said well; a source of power connected to saidpropeller for driving the same; and means above said Well for supportingan article thereon.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said inclined zoneshavecooperating meansfor removably securing said collar to saidcontainer.

3. Apparatus comprising a cup-shaped container for cleaning solutionhaving a side wall and having a bottom formed with a well provided withan upright cylindrical wall, an annular recess surrounding said well,and an upwardly facing annular zone surrounding said recess;

- an annular removable collar mounted in said recess to fill the same,said collar having an upwardly facing annular zone in alignment withsaidfirst mentioned upwardly facing annular zone and an uprightcylindrical wall in alignment with said upright wall of said well; apropeller in said well; a source of power connected to said propellerfor driving the same; and means above said well for supporting anarticle thereon.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said recess and said collarhave cooperating means for removably securing said collar to saidcontainer.

5. Apparatus comprising a cup-shaped container for cleaning solutionhaving a bottom formed with a well and having a collar at the lower end.thereof, a propeller in said well and rotatably mounted on said bottomand having a shaft extending downwardly of said bottom, a couplingmember on the lower end of said propeller shaft, a stand structurallyindependent of said container for removably supporting said containerand having circumferentially spaced upright tabs adapted to receive andgrip said container collar to effect removable securement of saidcontainer and said stand, a source .of power in said stand having anupwardly extending drive shaft, and a coupling member at the upper endof said last mentioned shaft for removably engaging said coupling memberon said propeller shaft, said tabs and collar being arranged to firsteffect engagement therebetween upon securement of said container to saidstand and guide said coupling members into engagement with each otherafter initial engagement between said tabs and said collar has beeneifected, said container collar having flat outer surfaces thereon andsaid tabs having fiat inner surfaces for engaging said flat surfaces ofsaid collar to prevent relative rotation between said stand and saidcontainer when said power source is effective to drive said propeller.

6. Apparatus comprising a container for cleaning solution having abottom and having a generally circular side wall formed with a series ofalternate circumferentially arranged arc and chord portions of the samecircle, said arc and chord portions being of substantially equalcircumferential extent with each portion extending upwardly from saidbottom between a pair of vertical planes intersecting each other and thecentral vertical axis of said side wall; a propeller adjacent saidbottom and being rotatable at a speed to swirl the cleaning solution toproduce a central vortex and to cause the swirling solution to rise asit contacts said are portions and to descend as it contacts said chordportions; a source of power connected to said propeller for driving thesame at the aforementioned speed; and means above said propeller forsupporting an article thereon to be contacted by the rising anddescending swirling solution.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said side wall is flaredupwardly at a small angle.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said side wall is dimensionedto contain a volume of solution having a greater diameter than height.

9. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said side wall has three arcportions and three chord portions.

10. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said last mentioned meansincludes a screen.

ll. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said screen is in the shapeof a basket.

2,342,742 Loeb Feb. 29, 1944 Rogers Jan. 9, 1934-

1. APPARATUS COMPRISING A CUP-SHAPED CONTAINER FOR CLEANING SOLUTIONHAVING A SIDE WALL AND HAVING A BOTTOM FORMED WITH A WELL, AN ANNULARZONE INCLINED TOWARDS SAID WELL AND IN COMMUNICATION THEREWITH, AND AFLAT ANNULAR ZONE SURROUNDING SAID INCLUDING ZONE; A REMOVABLE COLLARHAVING AN ANNULAR INCLINED ZONE SEATED ON SAID FIRST MENTIONED INCLINEDZONE, A FLAT ANNULAR ZONE FOR EXTENDING SAID FIRST MENTIONED FLAT ZONEINWARDLY, AND AN UPRIGHT ANNULAR INNER ZONE FOR EXTENDING SAID WALLUPWARDLY; A PROPELLER IN SAID WELL; A SOURCE OF POWER CONNECTED TO SAIDPROPELLER FOR DRIVING THE SAME; AND MEANS ABOVE SAID WELL FOR SUPPORTINGAN ARTICLE THEREON.